Savage Wasteland
by Bowdown
Summary: Sheriff of Vault 101, Jax Sullivan must lead a group of survivors to sanctuary after the vault is raided by super mutants. Will Jax allow himself to be corrupted by the harsh decisions he is forced to make, or will he rise above it and bring some well needed light to this land? Post fallout 3
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Pick Ourselves Up**

Vault 101.

Once seen as the safest place in the wasteland, now a dystopia torn apart by its own inhabitants.

Its new overseer, Amata had a vision after the death of her father at the hands of the Lone Wanderer. Though she didn't blame him for his decision; nobody did. Though once they all saw what he was capable of he seemed more dangerous than the old overseer.

It was the Lone Wanderer and her father who served as inspiration for Amata to be better, but the pressure of leading caused her to grow weary. People looked to her for answers with everything and it eventually seemed hopeless to rebuild the vault after the brutal civil war.

It was one night when she was crying alone in her office that he answer came in the form of a knock at the door.

"Not now!" she sobbed with her head buried in her folded arms on her desk.

The knock came again. "Ma'am, it's Jax Sullivan. I... I think I may be able to help with these issues here in the vault."

Amata picked her head up and eyed the door. Jaxon Sullivan was somebody from her own class. A bit of a loner, but always ended up being smarter than everybody in class. Eventually his scores during the G.O.A.T granted him the job of Wedding planner.

And now he had a suggestion for fixing the vault. This should be good.

The overseer slowly picked herself up out of her chair and made her way to her big double doors. With a push of the button the doors disappeared revealing a tall, thin man with curly brown hair and a stubbly chin. He still clutched his clipboard in his hands from a job earlier that day.

"Come in." she sighed, shutting the doors behind them.

Jax waited in from of her desk as the overseer circled around and plopped down in her chair.

"Well?" she suddenly said.

"Right. " Jax nodded. "Well our main problem in the vault is people are still used to the anarchy of the civil war, right?"

Amata nodded. "Yeah. Everybody wants to retake the G.O.A.T but they don't understand we need those positions filled NOW."

"Well what you really need is a mass community test." he replied. "Gather everybody inside one area. The theater should be big enough." Amata peered up at him in confusion. "Then all you need is somebody to keep order. A trust worthy sheriff, not abusive guards like some prison."

Amata blinked and shook her head. "All these years you hardly say a word to anybody, now all of a sudden you have all the answers?"

Jax gave a sideways grin and shrugged. "Not all of them, Ma'am. I just figured I would try to help out with logic and reason, since everybody seems so panicked." he hesitated for a moment before he cleared his throat and awkwardly looked around. "And don't take this the wrong way, but people are starting to talk. They think you can't keep us safe."

Amata blinked though she wasn't all that surprised. She gave a slight chuckle and leaned back in her chair, burying her hand in her face with stress. "I can't keep order myself."

"You're stressing yourself out, ma'am." he said with a slight laugh. "I can see it in the bags under your eyes. You can't do it all by yourself. you're starting to lose them." he leaned over her desk and looked right at her. "Hey." Amata looked up and the two of them met eyes. "We're not too far gone."

She got a warm feeling from that. It was the first time she had gotten any real support as the overseer. Jax was kind and he was smart.

"Thank you, Jaxon." she nodded at him, timidly. "You're right. You're absolutely right. I assume you learned this from your adventures into the wasteland." Jaxon opened his mouth to explain but she simply held up her hand and shook her head. "It's okay it's okay. I'm sure you have your reasons. I don't have to know, I'm not my father." she said nearly choking on her words.

Amata buried her mouth in her hand upon reminding herself of her late father. Jaxon blibked. "You're still grieving." Amata turned away as tears began escaping. "I'm sorry." Jax turned towards the door. As he reached the terminal he looked back. "I'll speak to officer Gomez about applying for Sheriff. He's one of the good ones. You get some rest, ma'am."

Jax raced out the door and made his way down the hallway staring at the walls as he did. Bulletholes and grafitti riddled the place. It must've been truly depressing for somebody in her position to see the vault in this condition.

He walked faster down the corridors and stairs until finally he reached the Gomez residence.

To no surprise Freddie answered the door and gave Jax a snide grin. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just looking for your dad. Is he home?" he asked.

He only got a tight frown in response to that question and Freddie shook his head. "No."

"Well do you know where he is?"

"You're smart." Freddie replied with hostility. "You figure it out."

"Freddie." came a cool voice from he other room. "Who is it?"

Jax peered at Freddie with a sideways grin. "Not home huh?"

Officer Gomez came around the corner and approached the door in only pants and a white t-shirt. "What can I do for you, son?"

"I wanted to run something by you, sir. In private." Jax insisted and peered at Freddie who sneered and walked away.

The officer watched his son walk away and then he turned to Jax. "What can I do for you?"

"I've convinced the overseer to let us create a sheriffs department here in the vault." Jax explained then poked the former officer's chest. "And I want you to be the primary candidate."

Gomez blinked in astonishment and touched his chest. "Me? Sheriff?" Jax gave a quick and quiet nod. Gomez chuckled and shook his head. "It's a good idea, son, but they'll never elect me for Sheriff after everything that happened."

"But you were one of the good guys," Jax argued as he followed Gomez into his living room. The man sat down on his couch and looked up at him. "You have the heart and the experience. Perfect Sheriff material."

"They'll never vote for me." Gomez argued. "To them I'm just another corrupt vault security guard."

"At least try." Jax argued. "Put up posters. Write a speech. Help outing cleaning up the vault. They'll eventually see that we need somebody like you."

Gomez hung his head and looked up. "I'll try. I'll get Freddie and some of his friends to come help me clean up. Speckle and repaint the walls."

"I'll work on posters and set up your speech date. You start working on writing it." Jax nodded and stood up. He held out his hand and Gomez graciously shook it. "I look forward to working with you, sheriff."

"Me too." Gomez replied. "Jaxon was it?"

"Just Jax." he grinned and backed out the door. "Good luck."

Gomez watched the plucky young wedding planner leave his home and his son stepped out of the kitchen and shook his head at his father.

Setting up the campaign took two weeks. While Jax wanted it to only last mere days, the citizens of Vault 101 still refused to man their stations, so Jax, Gomez, and the Tunnel Snakes began putting in the work as it was needed while setting up the campaign in their spare time.

The walls were fixed and cleaned and for the first time in months Amata could look out her window and feel like she was doing something right. Posters were set up after Jax designed them himself.

'Gomez for Sheriff. The leader your vault needs.'

'Vote Gomez. He will protect you."

Other slogans were created and the pictures of Gomez littering the halls certainly caught everybody's attention, though not always in a good way.

Jax often found them vandalized and needing replacement. Citizens often expressed heir rather strong disagreement with Gomez for sheriff.

With Jax working the cafeteria people would come see him and stick around to help out. Though it wasn't permanent like Jax wanted. The campaign had to happen so thatthe new G.O.A.T results could be enforced.

The day finally came when Gomez would give his speech. They all gathered in the theater with Gomez on the stage with Jax and the Tunnel Snakes backing them up.

Amata took up center stage and grabbed the microphone. Every vault citizen turned their attention to the overseer as she tapped on the mic.

"Ahem* Thank you all for attending this meeting." she greeted in a nervous manner. "We are here today to tell the fate of our vault. As you all know when the Lone Wanderer returned to the vault he helped destroy what we had." the people all started nodding at the brutal honesty that she held. "Our security, our sense of community. But as a good friend of mine once said to me, we're not too far gone. We can rebuild, but I cannot do it by myself. So one of our dwellers came up with the decision to elect a sheriff, not a gang of corrupt guards."

"This ain't a prison!" came a chant from the crowd and the rest all chanted in rowdy agreement.

"Settle down!" Amata shouted once or twice loud and louder until she had their attention. "Here to give a speech on the vision of the vault is officer Gomez. Please give him your undivided attention."

Gomez hesitated then took center stage. The crowd went silent and Gomez immediately gulped.

"Stand strong." Jax shook his head.

Freddie looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"

"These people can't stand him. To them he's just another asshole security guard." Jax explained, "The pressure may get to him."

Freddie immediately shook his head. "God. Come on, dad."

Gomez looked out at the hostile glares of the dwellers then gave a shaky wave. "Hello everyone."

"No no no. Inspiring, not casual." Jax hissed to himself.

"I am here today because this vault needs help." he nodded after swallowing his fear. "This place was broken after the lone wanderer. The overseer died and all of a sudden we question the way we live down here." he shook his head. "But we have to pull together. We need security; Community, again. And for that we need a sheriffs department. Not some corrupt squad of riot troops." he pointed into the crowd and nodded. "As you all said this isn't a prison. We don't need guards, we need watchful protectors."

"You're lying!" a woman screamed from the crowd.

"Just another guard!"

It wasn't long before everybody in the crowd was shouting and cursing at the former vault security guard. Jax rushed to Gomez and tapped on his shoulder. He nodded to the wedding planner and joined his son on the side of the stage.

Amata mouthed to him and shook her head. "What are you doing?"

Jax merely nodded and turned to the crowd as they continued to chant insults before slowly quieting down.

"Hey everyone. I'm Jaxon Sullivan as many of you probably know. I'm sure I've worked with a lot of you before." he grinned kindly then he shook his head. "Look I know the previous system was broken and many of the guards were corrupt assholes, but that's better than not having a system at all. What we're doing now, it's not good for this vault. We need a police that serves the people not the system. That's exactly what you would be electing Gomez here for." the citizens merely shook their heads begrudgingly at him.

Amata buried her face in her hand and shook her head. "Just fucking doomed us." she whispered to herself.

"Gomez was one of the good guys." Jax announced with a hand in his pocket. "When the riots were happened he was the only guard who helped the people. He helped me escape the vault on a regular basis so that I could go out and get food and supplies for you all." This earned him nods of from people starting to see his point. "He's not the bad guy. He's the leader that this vault needs. He's certainly the most experienced person here." Jax gave a shrug as he watched some people nod and some shake their head. The room was divided. "It's your call. Go cast your vote and the sheriff will be announced in a few days. Thank you all for your time."

At that Jax dropped the mic and turned around to join Amata's side. Everybody got out of their seats and went to the ballot table, manned by Butch.

The overseer let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"They needed to be encouraged by one of them." he nodded and folded his arms. "A citizen, not somebody they once feared. I'm sure I made them see the light, then again they might elect somebody else, who knows. Nobody else is running."

"Anybody else will need to be trained." she replied. "Gomez will be a part of this whether they like it or not."

It was three days later that Amata collected the ballots to be counted in her office. With a turn of the key she opened the back of the box and hundreds of slips of paper spilled out onto the table. One by one she counted the ballots, either shocked or hopeful with each and every need candidate she found.

Finally she smiled widely and pushed the button of her intercom and the whole entire vault went dead silent with anticipation. Jax lied in his bed, a lit cigarette between his fingers; suddenly he glanced at the speaker in his living room.

"Attention Vault 101. This is your Overseer speaking." Amata spoke with much pride in her voice. "The votes for Vault 101 Sheriff are as follows 5 votes for Butch DeLoria, 30 votes for Stanley Armstrong, 35 votes for Herman Gomez, 15 votes for Andy the Mr. Handy-"

Jax couldn't help but let out a loud laugh from that and apparently others found it funny too because he could here more laughter from down the hall.

"And 76 votes for Jaxon Sullivan." Amata finally said.

Jax's heart skipped a beat and he accidentally burned his finger with his cigarette. He picked it up and flicked the ash, before he looked up at the intercom.

"The winner and the newly appointed Sheriff of Vault 101 will be Jaxon Sullivan, effective two weeks from now on Monday August 21st, 2277." Amata finally said. "Other announcements. Replaceme. G.O.A.T exams will be held on August 22nd, 2277. Today on August 7th, we say Happy birthday to Lucy Palmer who turns eighty years old today, happy birthday, Lucy."

Jax could barely hear the rest as the cheers from the other residences surrounding his erupted with cheers of joy from over half the vault.

He let out a sigh and shook his head, puffing more on his cigarette, wondering who nominated him.

He couldn't do it. He hadno experience as a lawman.

In no time Jax made his way across the vault and marched into Amata's office with a strong fury.

"Okay you need to tell me what the hell is going on!" he said as soon as he entered the overseers office. Gomez and a bitter looking Freddie were in the room with her.

"You heard the news then?" Amata smiled in amusement.

"Don't play dumb." he pointed at her. "I was just helping out because I knew nobody else would. I never wanted to be in charge of anything."

"You inspired them, Jax." Gomez explained. "You took charge as a leader. Captured their hearts and minds without weapons and armor. If you ask me you're a better candidatefor Sheriff than me. I'm a grunt, not a king,"

Amata stepped in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "You can do this, Jax. I believe in you." she smiled warmly. "Gomez will be your first deputy and he'll be in charge of training you and your deputies."

"Having it just be you and I until the G.O.A.T exams will give you tons of practice." Gomez explained to him. "You and I will work out and hit the shooting range every day, then head out on patrol afterwards."

"Stanley will craft the badges," Amata added then stopped herself as Jax shook his head. "Hey, hey. I need you to do this. Please?" Jax looked up and their eyes met, Amata smiled warmly at him. "For me?"

Jax sighed and shook his head as he reached into his breast pocket for a cigarette. "Fine." he sighed as he lit it and inhaled. "I'll do it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Too Far Gone**

Vault 101 was thriving.

With Jax as their Sheriff, or as they called him, Sheriff Sully, the people weren't afraid anymore.

Jax was smart enough so that Amata could come to him for advice. As the G.O.A.T came and passed, the Vault was up and running again. Those who sought to be deputies, but didn't pass get good enough scores were placed on the scavenger team, trained by Old Lady Palmer, though she was far too frail to join them. Nevertheless the scavengers lead by Butch and Freddie Gomez brought some much need supplies. Weapons for the Sheriffs department, books to restock the library, and whatever miscellaneous food and tools they could find. However, there was only one rule that Jax enforced as Sheriff.

There was to be absolutely no trading with anybody other than people from Megaton.

Amata agreed, as the vault doors opening put the people in grave danger from Raiders and others. And of course the return of the Lone Wanderer, so the scavengers often never wore their vault jumpsuits.

101 was a safe haven for several months. Sheriff Sully was the best thing to happen to the vault and it seemed that they would thrive forever.

However, the day eventually came when the outside world would come knocking at the vault's door.

It was early in the morning and Jax was about to start his early morning patrol. He got up and put his jumpsuit on and his badge. Strapped his holster to his hip with his prized forty-four magnum at his hip.

He stepped out into the hall with a paper cup of coffee in hand and nodded at his neighbors who smiled and waved at him. He reached the end of the hall where Gomez stood on patrol.

"Morning." Jax greeted before taking a sip of coffee.

"Morning." he smirked. "Just waking up?" Jax nodded before he could even swallow. "The overseer wanted to see you. Said it was important. "

"Alright, good man." he nudged him. "Go ahead and radio Wally. Tell him he can turn in, I'll take his place up there."

"Yes sir." Gomez nodded as Jax continued down the hall.

The people certainly grew to respect him. Waving to him as he passed by them. They would look up from work and greet him before going back to work. The kids would look out with excitement from he classrooms before getting scolded to pay attention.

Jax certainly grew on them.

As he neared the Overseers office he patted Wally Mack on the shoulder. "You're good to go, buddy. Go ahead and turn in."

He entered Amata's apartment and knocked on her office door. They flung open and Amata sat facing away from Jax in her chair, her eyes on her monitors.

"Come in, Sheriff." she bellowed, shutting the door behind him as he entered.

"What's this about ma'am?" he asked as he stood alertly in front of her desk.

Amata spun around in her chair and looked at him with a wide smile. "Team one came in last night. Brought something I think you should have."

Jax gave a light chuckle and looped his thumbs trough his belt. "Your important message was a present."

"I never said it was important." she corrected with a wave of her finger. "Gomez must be mistaken, but still close your eyes."

Jax peered at her with suspicion, but she merely nodded and insisted. So the Sheriff shut his eyes and heard the overseer get up and walk around behind him. Then all of a sudden he felt a tight squeeze on the top of his head followed by something being placed over his shoulders.

A hat.

"Okay." she said excitedly. "Open."

Jax opened his eyes to see his reflection in a handheld mirror held by Amata. She had placed big black sheriffs hat on top of his head and a leather jacket with white fur on the inside of it.

Jax raised his eye brows and looked at her with much doubt. Though the hopeful look in her eyes couldn't bring him to express his dislike for the hat, so he humored her.

"Wow." he nodded with a sharp grin. "I love it." he skipped his arms through the sleeves of his new jacket and pinned his badge to the outside of it. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Amata." she corrected then rubbed the back of her head with a shy laugh. "Call me Amata." she grinned.

Jax secured his new cover to his head then tipped his hat jokingly towards her. "Have a good day... Amata."

Jax stepped out of the office and into the hallway. He turned right and walked to the end, only to see empty hallway.

When he circled back around by the overseer's office he passed by the holding cells across the hall and looked in the window.

There was nobody in there. No guard, and no prisoner. The cell door was wide open, as was one of the lockers.

Jax pushed a button on his pipboy. "Gomez, who was supposed to be guarding the cells?"

"New guy, Earnie." the deputy replied as Jax made his way into the empty cell.

The sheriff drew his revolver and radioed Gomez again. "Who were we holding in the cells?"

"Hang on." Gomez radioed back. Jax waited, keeping watch out the door. "Floyd Lewis and Jesse White."

"Get everybody inside. We have a jail break." Jax radioed back before he stopped and looked inside the empty locker. "Earnie helped them escape, prisoners are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous."

He marched out into the hallway and aimed his revolver both left, then right, then left again before he went back inside and grabbed a spare pistol from one of the lockers and a Chinese assault rifle.

He rushed out into the hallway, with his rifle aimed out in front of him. He frequently looked over his shoulder for anybody who may ambush him. Finally he reached Amata's apartment and barged into both of her bedrooms for intruders, and when those were found to be empty he turned around and went to her office door. With one hand he held his rifle up and point it at the door with his other hand on the button. Finally he pushed it and raced inside, only to find his deputy Earnie alone in there with Amata as his hostage.

"Put your weapon down!" Jax shouted with his assault rifle aimed at Earnie's head. The deputy simply held his sub machine gun to her head and shook his head. "Put it down now, Earnie!"

"I'll shoot her, Sheriff!" he replied shakily. "Really, I-I will!"

"Okay." Jax panted, slowly inching closer. "It don't have to be like this, Earnie. Just put your weapon down, and we can walk away from this."

"No. I'm leaving this vault, my job is done." he shook his head with watery eyes. "She's gonna escort me and youre gonna give me that rifle."

Jax held out his weapon. "Alright." he said with his hands up. "Why don't you take me instead. They can always elect a new sheriff." Earnie furrowed his bushy eyebrows and shook his head. "Come on, Earnie. Take me, let her go."

There was a moment of silence as the sheriff and his deputy sized each other down with complete distrust.

Finally Earnie nodded. "The revolver, set it on the floor, kick it to me." Jax nodded and did just that. Earnie nodded and pushed Amata to the floor, slung the Chinese assault rifle over his shoulder and aimed his sub machine gun at Jax's head. "Let's go, Sheriff."

The deputy opened up Amata's escape tunnel and walked Jax down the stairs, leaving it wide open.

The two of them walked down the dark, damp hallway and Jax kept his hands up every step of the way. He could hear Earnie's heavy, unsteady breath behind him. The man was unsure of himself. Suddenly the alarms sounded and the overseer's voice sounded on the intercom.

"Attention all Vault 101 residents, we have a hostage situation in progress. All citizens are advised to stay in their homes at all times."

"Why you doing this, Earnie?" Jax asked with his head forward as they rounded the corner towards the door. "I saw you out on patrol, you like it here. Why do something this selfish? You know they'll know where we are in a heartbeat."

"Jesse, he has a plan." Earnie said as they reached the door. Jax pushed the button and the door opened, closing them in a big empty room with a huge steel slab between them and the vault entrance. "He told me about it. This place is doomed by now. Get that door."

Jax looked over his shoulder and pushed the button once Earnie tapped his head with the automatic weapon. The steel slab opened up. And Jax only saw the corpse of one of his deputies lying against a blood soaked panel with a knife in his throat.

Jax shut his eyes with regret as Earnie shoved him forward and the two of them made it down the steps. There he could see Jesse White and the corpse of Floyd Lewis right behind him. The door was wide open with the midday sun filling the room. The shaved head vault dweller looked up at them, a combat shotgun in his left hand and threw up his other in confusion.

"Um, Earnie." he said with his voice raised. "What the fuck are you doing? I specifically asked for the overseer, not the Sheriff."

"I uh, I figured he'd be an equal trade." the deputy explained.

"Its not about the trade, I just wanted to..." He shook his head with an annoyed look on his face. He let out a big sigh and made his way towards him. "Well sheriff, I guess you get the honors."

"Why are you doing this?" Jax asked in confusion. "This place is better than anywhere else out there."

Jesse pursed his lips then pointed at him with a big wide smile. "No! No it is not. See we had a problem with authority down here, so what was your solution?" Jax shook his head and Jesse leaned over and met eyes with him. "More authority!" the man shook his head. "Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is."

"People need to be free." Earnie added with a shaky grin.

"Right," Jesse pointed at him then looked back to Jax. "But unfortunately we can't be free out there as humans, we're too weak." The Sheriffs eyes widened as he looked up at Jesse. "So I came up with a plan that I feel helps everybody."

Jax's heart sank and he shook his head. "What did you do?"

"I." Jesse looked up thinking of the right word as he back up towards the control panel. "I consoled some friends who agreed to spare Earnie and I if we got them into 101." he smiled and nodded at the sheriff. "So I did."

"You idiots." Jax breathed and hung his head. His hat dropped to the floor. He looked back at Jesse. "You fucking idiots! They won't spare you, they'll just chop you up and throw you in a net!" Jesse shook his head and snapped his fingers at Earnie. "You're nothing but dinner to-"

The wind was taken out of him as Earnie hit him in the stomach with the butt of his rifle. The sheriff dropped to his knees. He gasped for air as he looked around, but he couldn't.

Jesse shook his head with an amused chuckle. "Floyd reacted the same way when we got this far. Its okay."

Jesse's attention was taken when a shadow covered the entire room. He shielded his eyes and looked up towards the vault door.

They were here.

He smiled wide as a group of about fifteen super mutants marched their way down the path.

Jax's breath still hadn't come back. Jesse held up his hands and placed his weapon on the ground in front of him.

"Greetings friends." he smiled shakily. "I-I'm-"

A giant blast filled the cavern as one of the super mutants shot Jesse, blowing his arm clean off. Then another blast sounded and dropped Earnie as two super mutants attatched charges to the vault door.

The sheriff immediately picked up Earnie's assault rifle andhis hat and bolted for the door to the inner vault, firing at the group as he did. He reached the inside of the room and pressed his back to the wall as a hail of bullets hit the wall. He looked across the hallway and shot the door panel, closing it behind him.

He heard a massive explosion from the room and a crash as the vault door came crashing down for good. Jax shook his head and bolted up the stairs. He could hear the mutants blow the door down from the previous room, then another each time he closed a door another one was opened.

"Gomez!" he radioed in. "Evacuate the vault! Super mutants have invaded! I repeat. Super mutants have invaded! Take as many people as possible and get them to the Overseer's tunnel now!"

"Roger that!"

He reached the atruim as about ten of his deputies had rounded up and set up barriers.

"Sir. We're ready to make a stand." Stanley nodded holding up an assault rifle.

"Set charges by the doors, get Andy in here, now!"

Not too long after that the mister handy was floating by the door.

Five deputies crouched behind barriers on the ground floor, while Jax and four others waited from above. Suddenly the door exploded forward and two super mutants rushed in, only to get blown up by frag mines. The deputies fired down the hallway and the mutants immediately fired back, getting closer to the end.

Suddenly Andy floated into their path and slashed at the first super mutant with his razor blade, cutting his stomach open, the spun around and set the next one a blaze. Then with a flurry of bullets Andy was destroyed and thrown out the hallway into a barrier, two deputies were crushed under the weight.

Jax looked down and saw Gomez and a group of civilians trapped down there. "Gomez! Get ready to run on my go!"

"Roger that!" he called back over the pipboy.

Jax reached for Stanley's chest and grabbed a plasma grenade and a frag mine and made his way to the center of the catwalk while Stanley provided covering fire. Jax fired at a super mutant then ceased fire. As soon as one of them exposed themselves he pushed the button and threw the grenade into the hallway.

"Now!" he shouted into his pip boy as soon as it exploded.

Gomez ran to the center officer room and provided covering fire for about thirty people who ran across he room only to be mowed down. The deputy was knocked aside by a deputy behind cover as the entire group of civilians was brutally gunned down.

Jax looked down at the slaughter and shook his head. They were all going to die. He had to think of something, but he couldn't. There was no solution for something so powerful.

Stanley shouted at him in a muffled scream that the sheriff couldn't even understand. The engineer finally ran to him and pulled him aside as the super mutants rushed the atrium and two of them were gunned down. However, the rest of the deputies including Gomez was gunned down.

Stanley slapped Jax across he face. "Jax! Jax! What's your call?" the sheriff merely shook his head in immense remorse and failure. Stanley slapped him again. "Jax!"

"I'm calling it." looked at him with a shake of the head. He stepped out towards the overseers office.

"What about everybody else?!" he shouted back.

Jax simply shook his head. "We gotta go, Stan. We gotta go."

It was hopeless. Cruel as it was, not all of them could survive. So Jax threw the frag mine down below and ran to the door as it blew up some super mutants below them. He and Stanley made it to the office and opand the tunnel just as the mutants reached the upper levels. They shut the door behind them and that was that. Everybody else was dead.

Stanley shook his head with tears in his eyes at the thought of all the lost children in there. Jax simply made a slow limp down the hall. No emotions came out; he just wanted to find out if anybody else survived.

"Wait up!" Stanley called, running to his side as they rounded the corner.

They made it to the door and Jax hesitated, his fingers dancing around the button as he prepared himself for the damage done to their population. Finally he hit the button and he and Stanley stepper into the room. The bug steel slab prvoiding safe haven for whoever made it.

Stanley closed the door behind them and pulled the wires out of the panel, shutting it for good.

Jax limped inside, shaking his head at the extremely low number of people who made it. Freddie Gomez, Butch DeLoria, Christine Kendall, Old Lady Palmer, Amata, as well as himself and Stanley. Only Eight of them left.

He dropped to his knees and hung his head at his failure. The people all looked at him as Stanley joined them, giving hugs of relief to those he knew.

Freddie Gomez approached him hesitantly. "My father." he said, his voice shaky. "Jax, where's my father."

The sheriff simply shook his head and Freddie backed away, huffing. And puffing before he dropped to his knees in tears. Amata circled them and made it to Jax.

"Is this really it?" she said.

"It was planned." Jax sniffled and looked up at them. "Jesse White, the scavenger. He made a deal with them." he touched his chest. "Us on exchange for him being turned into a super mutant." the people all shook their heads. "They killed him anyway."

"That moronic fool." Lady Palmer hissed and shook her head.

"Always going off on his own." Butch shook his head and kicked the wall. "How fucking long does it take one man to take a piss?"

"What's our plan now?" Christine asked.

"We gotta get as far from here as possible." Lady Palmer suggested.

"Get in there and ambush them." Butch suggested. "We got the element of surprise on our side now."

"No, she's right." Jax nodded and got to his feet. "This place belongs to them now."

"All those people." Christine breathed. "Its so horrible." She shook her head, throwing her arms around Butches shoulders, erupting into tears.

Everybody was either in tears or fighting to hold their composure. Amata stood in he corner, her head hanging.

"Amata." he said.

"I couldn't keep them safe." she sobbed. "I wish my father was here." she shook her head with regret. "He would've been able to keep us safe."

"Hey." Jax said, leaning over to meet her eyes. "We don't get to grieve right now. This was caused by the greed of one man, nothing else." he said with an angry snarl. "Right now we have to go. Get away from here."

He turned to Lady Palmer and pointed. "Megaton. They've got walls, food, people. It'll be safe. You've been there."

"No." Butch shook his head, Christine still leaning on him. "That place is gone. Some dickless asshole nuked it. Blew that place sky high."

It had been so long since he was out in he world anything would have surprised him.

"I know a place." Palmer said looking up with a nod. "Rivet City. Its a big steel boat, but its a bit of a walk."

"We can make it." Stanley said clapping him on the shoulder. "You and Palmer have been out there the longest. We go where you go."

Jax looked up to see the hopeless nods of the Vault dwellers and Freddie Gomez still lying silently on his back.

His eyes met Amata's and she stuffed his revolver in his holster. "We're not too far gone, Sheriff." she smiled.

Jax looked around and nodded, getting to, his feet. He looked down at Freddie. "Your father." he began hesitantly. "He gave his life for us. Held them off all by himself." he nodded down at Freddie. "The man died a hero."

Stanley smiled wide at what he knew was a lie, but it was a sweet gesture and a secret that he was willing to keep.

Freddie smiled and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Yep, that sounds just like my old man. Toughest son of a bitch I've ever met." he sat up.

"Are you gonna make him proud?" Jax asked him with his hands on his hips.

Freddie nodded and jumped to his feet. "Yeah its like you said, we don't get to grieve just yet. I'm ready when you are, sheriff."

Jax chuckled and nodded and Butch stood at the big door panel. Jax and Stanley readied their weapons and aimed them at the door after reloading.

"Everybody take cover, we don't know how many are in there." Jax ordered as everybody else took cover on the sidelines. "I heard them blow the vault door down, so look out for explosive charges." he said to Stanley then looked to Butch. "On my call." he and Stanley shared nods. "One... Two... Now!" he called as butch pushed the button and the huge steel door swung open.

A huge super mutant stood in their way and turned around once the door opened. Jax drew his revolver and shot him point blank in the face and the monster fell back onto the control panel. Jax and Stanley took cover on opposite sides of the door. From the entrance room a super mutant overlord roared and began letting loose a hail of lazer fire from a gatling lazer.

Jax held up his hand, signaling for Stanley to wait as Butch threw Stanley his sniper rifle and the two traded weapons. The mechanic loaded the rifle and readied it as lazer fire it the walls. Suddenly it stopped and they heard the big gun drop to the floor as the mutant attempted to swap weapons. Jax nodded and Stanley leaned out, firing a single sniper shot into he monster's helmet.

It didn't do anything except knock it onto its back. That's when Jax rounded the corner, jumped down the stairs, sprinted at the downed mutant.

Amata watched from the background. "That's dangerous! Jax come back!"

The sherrif kicked the lazer rifle from he mutants hands and fired multiple rounds into its exposed mouth. It lied there dead and Jax immediately nodded to Stanley. "Now! Run for,the door!"

The group sprinted down the steps and Jax picked up the laser rifle and the ammo before he looked to the corner to see Jesse's severed arm, but no Jesse. The sheriff shook his head and ran out the door with them, nearly blinded by sunlight.

The group finally stepped out into the wasteland which reeked like dead bodies, smoke, and sewer water. Christine covered her nose as soon as she smelled it, but everybody else couldn't help but look to the sickly Grey green sky and the crater that was once Megaton and Springvale. The school was barely hanging on by a threat.

Power lines were no longer standing, megaton was nothing more than a big pile of rubble. Billboards stuck out of the ground, and rusted cars were split in half sticking out of the dirt.

Jax turned to his pip boy and tapped Lady Palmer's shoulder. "Rivet City, where's it at?"

She leaned in and tapped the map on his wrist. "Right there on the river."

Jax nodded and saved the location on his map. "Okay guys, we've got a bit of a walk, lets head out and if we can scrounge up some supplies for the night."

And so with a single call, the survivors from Vault 101 made their way south, towards Rivet city. Unaware of their futures and full of fear. They spent that night at Super Duper Mart with nobody uttering a single word to each other.

Now was he time for grieving.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Eat or Be Eaten**

Jax and the group huddled around a flaming trash can. Canned goods and other food gathered on the center table with lady Palmer examining whether or not it is good to eat.

Jax sat atop the counter puffing on a cigarette, keeping a watchful eye over the corpse ridden place like his job as Sheriff had never stopped. Amata looked over at him from her can of Cram and approached the Sheriff.

"Hey." she said quiet as ever, but got no response. She held out her can to him. "You should eat."

Jax gave her a nonchalant wave. "Nah I'm alright. I snagged a can of beans while we were doing a sweep of this place."

"Never know when you'll eat again." she insisted.

Jax let out a sigh and shrugged. "Well we should pace ourselves for now. We'll be headed towards the River tomorrow. Palmer and I mapped out the safest route we could take. No raiders or super mutant camps."

Amata nodded and looked down at her feet. Depressed by the messy, torn apart place they were holed up in. "We could stay here." she looked up. "Clean up a bit, fortify."

Jax shook his head, still not looking at the group. "No." he said as he threw his cigarette butt. "Its too big and we don't have enough people." Amata's heart sank. Jax pointed across the supermarket. "Those were Raider corpses. People know where this place is. They could come back."

Amata let out a big sigh and turned around. "You're right."

The sheriff looked to her. "Hey." she immediately turned around and Jax patted the counter top. Amata hesitantly sat on the counter with him and hung her head. "What's on your mind?"

Amata threw up her arm and shook her head. Her heart as low as it could sink. "There were so many people. Well over a hundred." she whimpered quietly. "They depended on me and I failed them."

"Hey they depended on me too." he shrugged. "I know it hurts."

"Then why don't you seem like it?" she blurted out. "You haven't cried, even a little."

Jax shook his head and looked off. "I don't get to. Everyone is grieving and nobody is leading. I gotta take charge or we'll fall apart out here."

"Don't." she hissed then leaned in, trying to meet his eyes. "You don't owe us a thing. Don't put that kind of weight on yourself."

"It's okay." he replied with a light smile. "My job ain't done. I'll get us to Rivet City and everything will be okay, you'll see."

Amata huffed and shook her head as she slid off the counter. "How can you be so optimistic?"

Jax was left alone on his counter, his finger tapping on his revolver as he watched and waited. As the others began turning in for bed Butch got up and approached him. "You want one of us to take watch?"

The sheriff pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, I got it." then he looked to the tunnel snake leader. "I'll wake you up at like two and you can take over, okay?"

"You got it." he nodded before he went back to his bed.

The next day Jax woke up to a clanging of metal cans hitting each other as Lady Palmer stacked everything they had gathered out in front of her. The sheriff sat up on his grimy mattress as Butch nodded over at him from his spot on watch.

"Okay." the elderly woman nodded with a satisfied smile. "That is three cans of Cram, two cans of beans, a box of sugar bombs, and a few bottles of water."

"Should hold us over for a day or two." Jax shrugged with his thumbs looped under his belt. "Depending on how well we ration."

"This won't do." she shook her head. "It won't do at all, we have to find more. Maybe a trader somewhere."

"You know of any places on the way?" he asked the seasoned adventurer.

Palmer only shook her head. "I've only ever been up north. According to most sources the inner DC area is filled with super mutants." Jax shook his head at that and turned around. "I did my best to avoid it."

The sheriff shook his head and leaned over with a stern grumble. "Do you even know if this place is real?" he seemed annoyed now.

"I am positive." She nodded.

Butch butted in from the counter, his assault rifle across his lap. "Yeah me too. I've heard traders talking about going to Rivet city before."

Jax nodded. "I hope you're right." he turned towards the door to their little closed off corner of the store. "I'm gonna do one last sweep, see if we missed anything. Be back shortly."

Jax walked up and down the aisles and the upper levels built by the raiders who seemed to once live here and didn't find much. A few empty bottles and one more can of beans that they missed before, but other than that the aisles were cleared. The bathrooms had two stimpacks in one of he stalls, but the pharmacy had been completely cleaned out. Whatever weapons were once there had been taken by the group that was here before.

Freddie Gomez circled around the corner looking for Jax as he was doing one final sweep.

"Find anything?" Freddie asked.

Jax looked over his shoulder and looked at him for a moment before he shook his head. "No." he sighed in a weary tired daze. "People fought here before." he threw up his arm. "There's bullet casings and holes everywhere, but the pharmacy is cleared outand the weapons are all gone."

"Figures." Freddie shrugged, "I wouldn't expect a super market to be fully stocked after all this time."

Jax nodded and let out another disappointed sigh. "Yeah. I know." he looked at him as the two started back to the rest of the group.

The others were all awake eating small portions of cram and sugar bombs. Christine Kendall looked up and handed him the rest of a can of cram as he sat down next to Butch on the counter.

"We're gonna head out soon, everyone." Jax announced. "We're headed towards the river today. Keep your eyes peeled for food, raiders,and especially super mutants."

"Super mutants?" Christine gasped with a shaky voice.

"Yes." Lady Palmer nodded. "The inner city does belong to them, but going along the river should hold the least chances of running into them."

"If we do, we'll go quiet and smart." Jax added. "Get away from them as quickly as possible, but do not try to fight them under any circumstances. They do have better fire power than us."

"We'll be okay, Christy." Amata patted her on the shoulder.

They stepped out of the super duper mart into the parking lot after Jax peeked out the doors first for any people. The sky still looked like it was sick, the clouds were a pale green the closer they got to the blast site of Megaton. Jax hoped that it would be better as they got further away from their home.

"Jaxon." Palmer said as they marched along the country side towards, the river. "How many cigarette packs do you have left?"

"About three and a half." he answered. "Why?"

"The people of the wasteland have taken to using bottle caps as currency." she explained. "We could trade each pack for about twenty caps each. That should buy us at least a little food."

Jax sighed and pondered it for a moment. He knew it could be essential for their survival. So he begrudgingly reached into one of their bags, past the cans and pulled out his three packs then tossed the carton into the dirt.

"Good man." Palmer smiled and stuffed the packs into her pocket.

"Wait." Stanley suddenly stopped in his tracks and pointed into the distance at a small shack on the river side. "What's that?"

Jax peered into the distance and saw tables gathered just outside the front door. A sign hung above it that read 'Captain Paglia's Dockside Bar and Grill.'

"Some sort of restaurant." he shrugged. "Looks like it's newer than the rest of these buildings."

"Awesome!" Freddie shouted as he made to bolt toward the shack.

Jax held his arm out and stopped him in his tracks. "Now just wait a second." he said cautiously,

"This place could have food." Christine argued.

Butch nodded. "Water."

"Stanley and I will go and check it out first, make sure it's safe." Jax said then pointed to one of the tall ruins on the corner. "The rest of you wait over there until I give the signal. Anything happens, run back to the Super Duper Mart, okay?"

They all agreed and did as they were told. Jax and Stanley went ahead and stood on opposite sides of the door. Jax drew his revolver and pointed it at the door with his other hand on the knob.

Stanley readied the laser rifle. The two of them shared nods and on the count of three Jax opened the door and the two of them rushed inside.

The place was dark and mostly empty. Wooden tables and chairs all over the place. A jukebox in the corner and a counter with refrigerator behind it. An elderly woman stood behind the corner and looked up at the two of them with a start.

Her hands went up as soon as Jax and Stanley saw her. "Don't shoot!"

He sighed in relief and lowered his weapon. "I'm sorry, we weren't sure what we'd find in here."

The woman waved her hand. "Its no problem. I'm Grandma Sparkle and welcome to Captain Paglia's Dockside Bar and Grill. Please sit, pull up a chair."

Jax nodded to Stanley and the engineer poked his head out the door and whistled to the rest of the group. The rest of the group entered behind them and smiled widely at the sight.

"Finally a genuine restaurant." Butch groaned. "I'm starving."

"I'm sure you are." Sparkle said with a light smile as she reached under the counter and approached their table. "The wasteland is unforgiving, unlike them vaults of yours."

Jax peered at her immediately at the mention of the vault.

"I couldn't help but notice the jumpsuits." she pointed at them and they alllooked down at their grimy blue jumpsuits withshared groans. She then turned to Jax. "I assume you're the leader of this little party."

Jax shrugged his shoulders. "Well I was the sheriff." He didn't want to start any leadership debates with the hard headed Butch any time soon.

"Yeah I could tell." she nodded and pointed. "The hat."

Jax sat down across from Amata who gave him a proud smile.

Grandma Sparkle served them all their food and they all ordered whatever was relatively recognizable to them. Which meant Radroach meat and squirrel on a stick was definitely out.

Even though a warm meal definitely put them in high spirits, they still kept relatively silent. The memory of their lost loved ones still stung in the back of their heads.

It wasn't until they were half way through their meals that the door swung open. Four men walked inside toting shotguns and assault rifles, dressed in raggedy clothing and broken car parts for a sort of armor.

"No luck today, Grandma." called one of the men before he was stopped by one of his men. He looked and smiled before he and his men made it to the bar and sat down. Jax and the group eyed each other and Stanley handed Freddie the sniper rifle while Jax handed Amata his spare pistol. Everyone had a weapon other than Christine and Lady Palmer.

The raiders all smirked at each other and poured drinks before their leader turned around in his chair and looked at he group.

"I haven't seen one of them pip boys in a while." he said. "Must be nice in them vaults, you taking people in?"

Jax turned, his hand on the barrel of his assault rifle. "No." he shook his head.

"Why not, cowboy?" the man grinned. "Don't trust us?"

"Our Vault got raided by Super Mutants." he shrugged with a suspicious peer.

"Well shit man, where y'all headed?" the suspicious man asked.

Christine immediately spoke up. "Rivet City."

"Got room for a few more."

Jax peered at him then shook his head. "No. Sorry. I hear Megaton is nice this time of year."

The raiders all chuckled and their leader nodded. "That's funny, I like that. You're a funny guy." he nodded. "It's a shame we gotta take your supplies."

Jax glared at him and tilted his head. "You think so?" he asked, his finger tapping the barrel of his rifle as he tightened his grip.

"That's right," he nodded with a smile. "We fed you, now you need to return the favor."

"How about a trade?" Jax looked up. "We got three packs of cigarettes. That's at least sixty caps."

"We don't give a fuck about caps, boy." Grandma Sparkle some up, smiling through her rotted teeth. "We gotta keep this place running."

Amata gave Jax a worried look as her heart raced with fear. He and the gang leader eyed each other down while the rest of the gang took up separate parts of the room. One by the Jukebox, one at the table next to Stanley, and another by the door.

"Look." the leader began with a laugh. "I get that this is y'all's first time out in the wastes and you probably don't know how things work, so let me put it into perspective." And at that moment both Jax and the gang leader picked up their weapons and aimed it at each other's head. "Give me your shit, or I will kill you."

The room was dead silent as the two groups eyed each other down, Stanley and Butch were in a standoff with two others and Amata aimed her pistol at the head of one by Stanley. Even Grandma Sparkle was toting her own sawed off double barrel shotgun.

Finally after what seemed like forever, Jax nodded and held out his Assault rifle. "Fine, take it." he said, begrudgingly."

The gang leader hesitated as Jax's group lowered their weapons and the raiders did the same. Then finally he took Jax's rifle and chuckled. "See that wasn't so bad was it?"

Then as he went to set the Chinese assault rifle down on the bar Jax drew his revolver and fired two shots, one in the gang leader's chest and one in Grandma Sparkles head. He turned around and shot the man by the door and Butch finished off the one by the jukebox. One last thud sounded as Amata held the last one at gunpoint and surrendered.

The sherrif holstered his pistol and picked up his rifle before he made his way to the survivor and knocked him out with the butt of his rifle.

Amata shook and kept her pistol aimed at the unconscious person's head.

"Everyone okay?" the sheriff looked around as everybody nodded. Jax pushed Amata's arm gently down and whispered to her. "Its okay. Put it away." She looked at him then did as she was told, taking a deep breath.

"I'll get their ammo." Freddie announced going through the bodies for loot.

"Good." Jax nodded before he pointed at the refrigerator. "Get their food too, stuff it in the sack."

He couldn't help but look down at the dead bodies. The first man he had ever killed was a lot to take in. The scary part was how easy it was, and how quickly it all happened. Just three seconds and their problem was solved.

"I got a little bit of ammo." Freddie said, "And like a hundred and fifty caps."

"Not bad." Jax nodded and turned to Lady Palmer.

"I got her cans, water, and boxes." she said then shook her head in disgust. "But I'm not touching that squirrel meat or that radroach meat."

"Good." he nodded. "Lets get out of here before any more get here?"

The group gathered their belongings and left the shack only to pause right outside the door. Butch immediately turned away and threw up while Christine patted him on the back.

Jax waited for a moment until Butch finished then he cocked his head. "Come on."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Into the Darkness**

"If it's the only way, its the only way." Jax nodded staring at the gate to an underground subway station.

"We don't know what's down there." Christine argued from behind him. "Lets just go around."

"There is no around." Lady Palmer explained with a grim shake of the head. "Either we go through here or we test our luck getting past a dozen super mutant camps."

"No way." Butch shook his head, backing away slowly. "Sorry, Jax, but I think I'm gonna pussy out on this one."

"What if there's more of those giant crab things down there?" Christine whined and threw her arm up. "At least the other way we'd be able to see the super mutants."

"There's no Mirelurks in there." the elderly woman shook her head. "No water means no Mirelurks, plain and simple." then she shook her head with a sigh. "Gouls. That's what we'll be facing in there." she nodded.

"Gouls?" Jax peered with skepticism as he turned around to face the rest of his group.

"Feral Gouls," she explained. "Irradiated humans, driven towards caniballism. They're crazy but weaker than whatever else we would be facing so long as we stay alert."

Jax nodded then looked back at the gate. "Do you know your way through there?"

"We will be getting out just by Rivet City." she nodded. "L'Enfant south. Its another station so we should just have to follow the tunnels south east until we get there."

The sherrif nodded and turned. "Well it sounds like we've got a plan."

Amata gave him a look and pulled him close, shaking her head with worry. "Jax, no." she said. "This is dangerous."

"Its the safest way to Rivet City so far." He argued, only for Amata to persist her worried look. Finally he shook his head and caved. "Okay fine, if it seems to get too dangerous we'll go back the way we came. Deal?"

He looked to the others who hesitated before they looked back at the ruins of DC and nodded to him in sync.

"Good." he nodded then went through his belt. "I've only got two clips and eight spare forty-four rounds left." he sighed.

Butch held the other Chinese assault rifle. "I got one spare clip."

Stanley shook his head. "Four sniper rounds."

"I got two spare clips." Amata said with a shrug.

"Ten shotgun shells." Lady Palmer said with a stolen combat shot gun.

Freddie shook his head, gripping his sub machine gun. "I only got the one clip."

Jax looked to Christine who shrugged. "I don't have a weapon."

The sheriff shook his head and handed her his Chinese assault rifle. The girl accepted it, beaming, but Jax held on and gave her a stern, commanding look.

"Conserve your ammo." he ordered, unsure if the girl could handle the pressure. "I know you've never usedone before."

She gave a few quick nods, immediately feeling safer with a weapon in her hands as Jax nodded and let go.

He turned and adjusted his hat with one hand on the gate and the other pointing his revolver ahead of them.

"Alright, keep your eyes peeled." he looked back at everyone.

On the count of three he opened the gate and they were all exposed to the dark tunnels ahead of them. The metro was dirty, with the nuka cola machines bashed in and raided. Newspapers were scattered all over the floor as well as rubble from the ceiling.

The group inched onward, their hearts racing as they neared the first left turn. Jax rounded the corner, keeping his weapon up as he spotted a wide open room ahead of them with flaming trash cans lighting the area. Amata jumped as she looked down and saw a skeleton pinned to the wall with a machete pushed between its rib cage.

The sheriff holstered his revolver and slowly pulled the weapon from the wall. They continued on until they reached the end of the hall and they all hugged the corner behind a small trash can and they scanned the room. The upper levels were littered with rotten looking corpses in a pile as if somebody had been there before.

They slowly crept from the hallway and into the open. Jax looked to Palmer who pointed at the stairs going down ahead of them. As they passed the pile of bodies they all looked down at the pile of bodies. The others nearly gagged at the sight of them.

Their skin rotted off and their muscle exposed turned pale green. Their eyes were sunken and their lips were torn off, exposing their moldy teeth.

"Gouls?" he lightly whispered to Palmer who gave a silent nod.

Jax turned to the others and made a nod gesture as they moved onward down the steps. The Gouls below were all dead, shot from a distance on top of train cars and along the far walls.

Whoever had taken care of them was going the same way they were going because Lady Palmer lead them towards the corpses. Jax looked to his pip boy to make sure they were going the right direction, sure enough it was southeast.

The deeper into the tunnels they got, the more bodies they found. Caved in tunnels forced them to, take alternate paths which lead them toward more dead bodies. Occasionally Jax would point at a discarded bottle of water stuck in a corner and Butch would immediately go and pick it up before running back to the group.

Finally they reached yet another open area lit by flaming trash cans. Bodies and trash littered the floor as the group rushed up to a sign sticking out the middle of the floor.

Pointing southeast was a sign that read L'Enfant South and their spirits immediately lifted as they spotted a faint white glow directly ahead, signifying the exit.

They all started ahead under he stairs when suddenly they heard the rattling of a chainlink fence. Christine turned and screamed as a huge pack of feral Gouls snarled at her from the other side of an unlocked gate. They charged at her and she immediately fired, but the kick was so powerful that the go,was thrown up, bumping her into Lady Palmer. The others turned to run but Jax hesitated as the other two hadn't moved, but it was already too late. Christine and Old Lady Palmer were already surrounded with Gouls scratching, biting, and tearing their flesh apart. Their screams echoed the tunnels as blood and guts flew everywhere.

"No!" Jax screamed with fury as he drew his revolver and began firing shots at them.

One by one they took bullets to the head as Jax backed towards the exit. Butch, Stanley, Freddie, and Amata provided the best covering fire they could without hitting Jax but once he ran out of bullets he was swinging his machete left and right at the horrifying zombies as they just kept coming and coming. He reached a bench and slid it in the way as then bolted for the rest of the group.

"Run!" he waved as the hoard of Gouls chased after him, they rounded the counter, only to see the closed gate. With not enough time to check and see if it safe, Jax and the group made a split second decision and dove into a fenced in crevice near a power generator and shut the gate behind them.

The monsters slammed into the fence, shoving their arms through the holes trying to grab them. They were safe enough that Jax looked to the other four and nodded.

Amata, Stanley, Butch, and Freddie immediately started firing at the hoard, dropping them like flies with their combined firepower. More pushed up against the fence and Jax began ramming his machete through the holes in the fence to get to their skulls. The hoard had significantly decreased to only a few Gouls by the time they had run completely out of ammo; by that time Jax finished the remainder of them off.

They all panted as the final bodies fell against the fence and they were left in complete silence. There was a pause while they looked at each other and suddenly Amata threw herself at Jax and hugged him for comfort as tears rolled down her face. The others fought back their grief at the memory of Christine Kendall and Old Lady Palmer being torn apart by Gouls. Jax stared off into space as the weight of his callcame down upon him.

He knew that this was his fault.

Then out of no where the sheriff looked up to see a green glowing light. The others backed away to see a glowing Goul standing in front of them. It was awe inspiring as well as terrifying.

Finally Jax pursed his lips and exploded out of the gate, pushing he could against the wall with all his force, but it was too fast and immediately slashed across his belly with its claws. Jax cringed, by merely channeled it into more anger and threw it to the ground.

He hacked at its neck twice before it snarled and let out a thick green cloud around him causing Jax's vision to begin to fade. With what little strength he had he pushed the weapon through its skull and fell down on top of the corpse, unconscious.

Amata immediately ran to his side and rolled him over. "Oh my god. Jax? Jax!" she panicked and slapped him on the face.

"What the hell's the matter with him?" Freddie asked the pointed down at him. "The scratch isn't even that bad."

Stanley stopped the two boys and looked to his pipboy. He bold it by Jax's body and immediately heard a loud ticking.

"His radiation levels are too high." he shook his head and lifted the sheriff over his shoulder. "We have to get him some radaway and stimpacks as soon as we can."

Amata covered her mouth in despair and picked up Jax's hat off the ground as they made their way up the steps and out the gate.

They all groaned aloud as they were instantly blinded by the light. Amata weakly peered ahead as she spotted a massive structure towering over them.

They all looked to each other and rushed up the steps of the structure until they reached the top. There was a speaker on the edge of it with a huge gap separating them from the massive ship.

They were startled. As the speaker sounded. "Please wait and holster your weapons while we extend the bridge."

They all looked at each other, impatiently watching the bridge loudly swing towards them. Amata's heart raced and emotions filled her simply from it taking too long. Finally the walkway was clear and they all rushed across until they were stopped by three guards at the front doors.

"Woah hold up there." he said.

"My friend is hurt; irradiated. He needs help." Amata demanded.

The guard nodded. "I will have Laura here take him to the infirmary. In the mean time, you four look like you've had a long trip. Go inside and get something to eat. My guards will let you know when you can see your friend."

Stanley allowed the female guard to swing Jax's arm over her shoulder. "We'll take good care of him. I promise." she assured the still panicking Amata.

She watched as their sheriff was taken through the door on the left and her heart immediately sank.

The guard smiled at the others. "You can go through that door right there. My name is chief Harkness, if you have any questions feel free to ask."

Stanley nodded at Harkness. "Thank you." then he waved to the others. "Lets go, guys."

The others hesitantly followed him through the doors and Harkness hollered after them.

"Welcome to Rivet City!"


End file.
